The lab of David E. Nelson, PhD is focused on chlamydial pathogenesis, microbiome pathogen interactions and pathogen discovery.
Active Research
The Nelson laboratory works in two distinct but sometimes overlapping areas of microbial pathogenesis. One focus is utilization of emerging genetic tools to identify virulence factors that dictate how genetically similar intracellular pathogens in the genus Chlamydia infect different tissues, evade local and systemic immunity and cause distinct disease states. Long-term goals of this project are identification of suitable antigens for use in recombinant anti-chlamydial vaccines and generation and testing of live-attenuated anti-chlamydial vaccines.
The second major focus of the laboratory is discovery of novel urogenital tract pathogens and disease syndromes. This project utilizes cutting-edge metagenomic approaches to identify disease-associated microorganisms in patients with idiopathic urogenital tract disease.
